B.A. in Linguistics and Japanese (double major) from Western Washington University.
M.A. in Japanese Linguistics from the University of Hawaii, with interdepartmental studies in corpus linguistics, computational linguistics, psycholinguistics, and second language studies.
Japanese Language Proficiency Test, Level 1 (most advanced) certified.

Hello, Proz clients.

I am a native speaker of English and fluent in Japanese available for Japanese into English translations and other linguistic work. I've lived in Tokyo, Japan, where I taught English for 6 years while I learned as much as I could about the Japanese language and culture. Following this, I most recently taught Japanese for 3 years in the US.

I primarily translate Japanese into English, but I am willing to consider projects requiring translating into Japanese if I already have the necessary vocabulary.

I am also available for other types of bilingual projects such as editing captions/subtitles, transcribing/translating video, working on language education texts or software, or anything that I can apply my various skills towards.

My expertise in Sound Symbolism is a unique skill that is especially helpful for clients wishing to expand their businesses internationally and need a translator who not only understands the languages and nuances of both languages, but who also understands the perception of language on a subconscious level. This can be used to reinforce the positive and avoid the possible negative associations and connotations that certain phrases, words, or even certain sound clusters can evoke.

My specialties that I have had significant first-hand experience in are:
computers (C++/HTML programming);
science (chemistry, geology, physics);
psychology (sound symbolism, memory, perception);
music (orchestral, production, rock band, DJing and audio production/editing);
education, all ages (Japanese/English as a foreign language, math, science);
food (culinary arts, gourmet dining);
history (Japanese, East Asian, world);
sustainable organic agricultural techniques;
self-sufficient lifestyle and movement.

My hobbies that I am also passionate about and fields I like to translate, not mentioned above, are:
The Great Outdoors (camping, hiking, fishing, hunting)
Travel;
Film, Animation, and Television;
Video Games and Tabletop RPG;
Celtic and medieval European history and culture.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at any time regarding a job offer or a short trial translation.

I hope that I can be of use to you in your linguistic projects.
Thank you.
-Michael Churchman